The breakdown will be as vital as ever in Cardiff and England have uncovered two flankers who are prospering thereIn the beginning, Eddie Jones made it look easy. He had an idea what was wrong with England’s back row, had even explained the problem in a column for the Daily Mail while Stuart Lancaster was still in charge, and he knew a quick fix for it too. When Jones took over as head coach he moved Chris Robshaw over to the blindside flank, picked James Haskell to play on the openside, and brought back Billy Vunipola, who had been injured, at No 8. Jones knew he needed to bring a young back rower through too, because Robshaw and Haskell were both getting on, so he picked Jack Clifford. Simple. Related: England’s Eddie Jones seeking display of ‘real steel’ against Wales Continue reading...

• Supporter in hospital following attack after Schalke game• City staff have remained in Germany to offer supportA Manchester City supporter is fighting for his life following an alleged assault during the Champions League match against Schalke on Wednesday, German police have confirmed.The unnamed 32-year-old man is in a critical condition after sustaining “massive trauma to his skull and brain” near the away section at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen. Police Gelsenkirchen added that there was “an acute danger to life”. Continue reading...

Kusal Perera’s and Oshada Fernando’s last-wicket stand of 78 to beat South Africa last weekend was one of the finest spectacles the game has produced in recent yearsLast Saturday in Christchurch, Martin Guptill thrashed a century for New Zealand in a one-day game against Bangladesh; in Dubai, Shahid Afridi finished off Multan Sultans’ Twenty20 match against Islamabad United with back-to-back sixes; and in Chittagong a young kid called Jamie Smith made a run-a-ball hundred for England Under-19s in a Test against Bangladesh. Cricket’s always on, somewhere or other, one format or another, bat hitting ball like the background tick-tock of a wall clock, something you only really notice when you look at it, catch a fraction of the match in a gif, a clip, a stream, or tweet, or a glance at a scorecard.Amid all the rest of it, South Africa and Sri Lanka were playing in the first Test at Kingsmead in Durban. The match had meandered into a fourth day and it looked as if it was only going one way. South Africa v Sri Lanka isn’t necessarily a series you stop to watch. They have been playing each other for only 26 years and, in South Africa, the contests have been off-puttingly one-sided. Sri Lanka had played 13 Tests there before this series and won only one of them, in 2011, when Kumar Sangakkara and Thilan Samararweera made all the runs and Rangana Herath took most of the wickets. Continue reading...

Chelsea will face a trip to Dynamo Kiev of Ukraine in the last 16 of the Europa League, where Arsenal take on French club Rennes 12.44pm GMT Chelsea will face a trip to Dynamo Kiev of Ukraine in the last 16 of the Europa League, where Arsenal take on French club Rennes. Friday’s draw in Nyon was not protected by any seeding but teams from Russia and Ukraine were kept apart. Dynamo Kyiv were first out against Chelsea. 12.32pm GMT Charles Antaki wanted a nice story, but alas, we cannot always have nice things: “Shame that Arsenal didn’t draw Villareal, to give fans a sight of the much-loved Santi Cazorla; even sadder that it looks like Villareal won’t even be in the top division net year…” Continue reading...

One of the reasons for hiring Unai Emery was his record as a Europa League specialist. The man from the Basque country has won this competition three times in succession with Sevilla, and given Arsenal find themselves in this company at the moment (however desperate they are to get out of it) there is a certain logic in choosing a coach who knows how to get over this particular line.So, having gone the distance before on a few occasions, are his current team strong enough to emulate that in the Europa League? Emery paused for a moment before forming his answer. “We can,” he mused, not entirely convincingly. “In the last 16, one is Arsenal, but it’s very difficult. A lot of teams want the same. We need to feel this competition with our supporters. This feeling can give us more possibilities. We need to feel stronger in this competition with everybody and create this atmosphere around us.” Continue reading...

A late Raheem Sterling strike was the difference as Manchester City came from behind to win 3-2 away at Schalke. The home side were awarded two penalties in the first half after Sergio Agüero opened the scoring. City went down to 10-men after Nicolás Otamendi was shown a second yellow, the first awarded after a controversial VAR decision Continue reading...

The likely No 1 pick in June’s NBA draft suffered a shocking injury that puts a fine point on college basketball’s student-athlete shamThirty-three seconds into the biggest college basketball game of the season, the sport’s biggest star went down with a bizarre injury as Zion Williamson’s shoe exploded and he sprained his knee.Zion’s Nike shoe rip in slo-mo pic.twitter.com/UYQuoDMxq5 Continue reading...

Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Madrid was an unhappy one with his Juventus side losing 2-0 to Atlético in the Champions League. Ronaldo received plenty of abuse from the home fans and reacted in the mixed zone after the match displaying five fingers to the media, one for each Champions League title he has won. Giménez and Godín put Atlético Madrid in charge against Juventus Continue reading...

• Holland has worked at Chelsea and assists Gareth Southgate• He is believed to be favoured option to take charge till summerChelsea would consider approaching their former coach and current England assistant manager Steve Holland to help steady the ship on an interim basis if they call time on Maurizio Sarri’s tenure at the club over the next week.Sarri, who is seven months into a three-year contract, is clinging to his job despite the team’s progress into the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday night. Recent humiliating defeats by Manchester City and Bournemouth have eroded confidence in the Italian, who faces pivotal games against City in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final and Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League next Wednesday. Continue reading...